Removing wallpaper has gone back to plaster

[mundo]

Hi guys,

I had some horrible wallpaper which I stripped which came off quite easily. On part of the wall it also took away a couple of layers of paint and went back to the plaster.

This paint came away easily in this area but now I can't get the paint off the rest of the wall using only a scraper.

Can I use a paint stripper gun on a wall or is there some other technique for doing this. Now that I have this large area exposed I would rather remove all of the paint on this wall so that I can get a nice finish.

Untitled

• mundo
• 26 May 2011
• 1

 

[TheDec]

When this happens it is often an indication that a mist coat was not first applied, and there is often no need to strip the entire paint system. Is your wall plasterboard or plaster skim????

Dec

 

[mundo]

Hi Dec,

Do you mean that the plaster wasn't sealed before the paint was applied. That's probably about right in this house. I think the paint goes back to the 70's.

Should I just PVA the plaster then paint over it. How can I make it blend in with the painted area in terms of height difference between plaster and the few layers of paint.

 

[TheDec]

Before we continue never never ever use PVA I take it that your walls are plaster skim, firstly you will need to remove the old paste as bare skim is involved I would suggest using warm water as opposed to sugar soap. Seeing as the exposed areas are small a squirt of detergent would be ok.

Repeat this until you are sure all the paste has been removed, then wash down again using only warm water, when all is dry apply a thinned coat of Matt Emulsion to the exposed areas, again when dry face fill slightly proud of the existing paintwork. Lighty sand until you have achieved a smooth finish and then apply a thinned Emulsion to the filled areas, using around 100 grit sand the walls to provide a key dust off and you should be fine to continue.

Dec

 

[misterhelpful]

I think someone needs to do a 'sticky' on this subject and the misuse/failings of PVA.
The same queries appear almost daily.


Not me though, I ain't not no author!!

 

[TheDec]

Not me either.

Dec

 

[mundo]

Thanks guys, so what's the story with PVA in terms of why I shouldn't use it?

 

[TheDec]

Pva is a very unstable surface and can be activated both by heat and humidity, it will stop any paint system bonding to the substrate.

Dec

 

[misterhelpful]

It is fine for helping bond plaster to render, plaster to plaster, plaster to paint etc, but not for sealing plaster/render before painting. The PVA re-activates upon contact with the moisture in the paint and thus mixes with it. This leads to many problems including:

Paint not adhering.
Flaking and peeling.
Cracking of the dried paint surface. (Crazing)
Patchy finish.
And us decorators sucking air in through our teeth and shaking our heads!!

Also, if PVA is added to the paint to try and aid adhesion, it will generally 'ball up' and pull the paint off the wall as you are applying it.

 

[TheDec]

The reality here is that your paint is attatched to a product that can reactivate when temps change, it therefore becomes a floating substance. and will never revert back to it's original state. If you intend to apply paint never use pva.

Dec

 

[Growler]

I think someone needs to do a 'sticky' on this subject and the misuse/failings of PVA.
The same queries appear almost daily.


Not me though, I ain't not no author!!

This PVA subject, always makes me laugh.

Ever used it Mr H?

 

[misterhelpful]

Yes, in the very beginning of my decorating days and I have to admit that it never caused me a problem.
Having encountered it's related problems numerous times since, I would never use it or recommend it again for use with painting.

 

[joe-90]

It's got nothing to do with PVA reactivating, it's a polymer structure that has large difficult to adhere to molecules - ie the paint can't get a grip. You can tell that by the way your roller skids all over it. Oh and no it doesn't 'ball up' unless some Wally mixes it with oil paint. If you add it to emulsion it makes a great tar block for smokers.

 

[misterhelpful]

It's got nothing to do with PVA reactivating, it's a polymer structure that has large difficult to adhere to molecules - ie the paint can't get a grip. You can tell that by the way your roller skids all over it. Oh and no it doesn't 'ball up' unless some Wally mixes it with oil paint. If you add it to emulsion it makes a great tar block for smokers.

Really? So why does it say 'not suitable for use with paint' on the tins/bottles? And why did my neighbour come running to me a few weeks back asking why the paint was becoming bobbly while he was using it having 'mixed it with PVA' as the plasterer told him?

 

[joe-90]

It's got nothing to do with PVA reactivating, it's a polymer structure that has large difficult to adhere to molecules - ie the paint can't get a grip. You can tell that by the way your roller skids all over it. Oh and no it doesn't 'ball up' unless some Wally mixes it with oil paint. If you add it to emulsion it makes a great tar block for smokers.

Really? So why does it say 'not suitable for use with paint' on the tins/bottles? And why did my neighbour come running to me a few weeks back asking why the paint was becoming bobbly while he was using it having 'mixed it with PVA' as the plasterer told him?

Have you actually tried it? Well do so then.